Monday, January 21, 2008

Starting Over

29 and living with MS. You would have thought I would be depressed. Not the case. In fact I felt alive. I was thankful to be alive. No brain surgery needed, and I thought that was a great step forward.

That first month I went crazy because I wasn’t able to work, and I couldn’t get out of the house much on my own. This was all because my vision took a good month before it was back to normal. I should qualify normal. Normal meaning I could see without any problems. However, I’m still plagued with extremely sensitive eyes. And my vision can become a bit off if my body overheats.

I remember telling everyone I had MS. I was not scared of the consequences. EVERYONE embraced me (work, family, friends, etc….). They knew I would rebound.

I’m now two years away from my diagnosis. I’m still doing great. I have very minimal problems, and I am able to manage my MS. My last MRI revealed no lesion activity.

I’m currently on Rebif. There was two months when I was on Tysabri, but I had a severe allergic reaction to it during my second infusion.

So someone that was terrified with needles can now inject himself three times a week. It took time to get to where I am. Over a year ago there were times when it would literally take me hours to muster the courage to click the auto inject button. Hours!!! Can you even imagine?

Now I can prep, inject and clean up in less than four minutes. I rock!

It’s funny. My MS hasn’t even been that big of a problem for me. I’ve encountered much larger problems.

Keri and I had been married for just under seven years and together for ten when I found out she was having an affair on me. Again, a story for another day. The good news is I finally landed on my feet.

I am divorced now, but I found someone that means the absolute world to me. When I thought things were not going to improve for a long time, I found hope.

A little bit about me: Born and raised in Indiana. I’m on the senior leadership team of a software company. I love to run. I breathe Indiana University basketball. I just bought an awesome house a few months ago. Built in 1922 and completely restored. Beautiful.

Well there is a whole lot to me. My strategy with this blog is for you to slowly discover me. I hope I’m not too boring. I promise the creativity will start flowing with the next blog. For some reason I just felt it necessary to lay a little foundation before jumping in.

Hi there!My name is Serina, I was just diagnosed with MS this week. I was also made aware of your blog by Lisa Emrich's MS Blogger Project. I am out here making as many contacts, and gathering as much information I can on this disease, as I have three little ones, and it is my goal to continue to be a very active part of their lives.

I appreciate your upbeat style of writing. I'm still kind of in shock, but I'm wanting to make the most I can out of this situation, and take control of my own health.

Hi! MichaelI too was made aware of your blog thanks to Lisa at Brass and Ivory.Interesting to read how you had a similar experience to mine. The doctor thought I had an inner ear imbalance,then a brain tumor. 3 years later when the MS diagnosis was made I was stunned, mainly because I didn't know a thing about MS.Don't worry about having an audience for your blog . Just write what you want and let it flow.Good LuckCarole

Hi, I apologize for the 'form' letter but it is the easiest way to pass word most quickly.

I am thrilled with the response to the MS Blogger project started at my blog, Brass and Ivory. I appreciate all those who took time to post about it on their blogs. I have discovered even more bloggers who have MS, whether they blog about the MS or not. A new listing is available at MS Blogger Community Project Revised.

Secondly, I'm looking for submissions for next week's Carnival of MS Bloggers. Information can be found at the end of each issue archived at Carnival of MS Bloggers. What I'm looking for this week are posts related to creativity. I discovered so many new bloggers who quilt, or knit, or crochet, or write, or photograph, etc. Basically, what do you do to express yourself?

Thank you so much for participating.

Lisa Emrich

P.S. I also apologize for any increased 'spamming' of blog comments due to my growing linklist of bloggers with MS. For that I am sincerely sorry.

Great Post. I am 28 and have had MS for 10 years. I run too. I think running has really saved me from depression. It's funny, I often think the depression was harder than the actual MS symptoms. I actually think being "depressed" and not getting some kind of heavy physical exercise will make things seem so much worse. Anyways, it's great to read a blog of another young, active person who is living a full life like myself. Best, J.

In 2006, Laura Lawes was diagnosed with Multiple Scelrosis and given a life expectancy of one year. Three years later, she was not only living strong, but she gave birth to her first son. It was called "a miracle birth". These miracles are possible today, because of the work organizations, such as yourself, have done. Here, at Disease.com (a website dedicated to disease preventions and treatments) we are inspired by stories such as this, and would like to join you in fighting this cause. If you could, please list us as a resource or host our social book mark button, it would be much appreciated. Lets create more of these miracles; together.If you want more information on that please email me back with the subject line as your URL.

Hi. Excuse my Englih, it's not my mother tongue. The important thing: like you, I felt really miserable when my wife left me. But I also felt happy when I realised another woman took her place. All the inconvenients of MS but happy.

Hi, I have MS for what almost 20 years. When it was diagnosed to me, i had no problems now it is differen. Problems walking, hand are the same, the heat is bad. But on the other side I am better when it is cold in winter so I live for cold weather.

Serina, been there at the shock stage. Two years and I am still in absolute shock. I love to read blogs that offer encouragement. I want to just hear that there are many people today that manage this just fine with no major problems.

Healthline just launched a video campaign for MS called "You've Got This" where individuals living with MS can record a short video to give hope and inspiration those recently diagnosed with MS.

You can visit the homepage and check out videos from the campaign here: http://www.healthline.com/health/multiple-sclerosis/youve-got-this

We will be donating $10 for every submitted campaign to the National MS Society, so the more exposure the campaign gets the more the videos we'll receive and the more Healthline can donate to MS research, support groups, treatment programs, and more.

We would appreciate if you could help spread the word about this by sharing the You've Got This with friends and followers or include the campaign as a resource on your page: http://imbeatingms.blogspot.com/

Please let me know if this is possible and if you have any questions. And, if you know anyone that would be interested in submitting a video, please encourage them to do so.